Alford Truman Hennessee (1922-2009)He was active with the Salvation Army, Boys Club, Red Cross, USO, United Way, Comanche County Center for Handicapped Children, Comanche County Children's Shelter and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. He was a member of Trinity Baptist Church.

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Alford T. Hennessee

Funeral for Alford T. Hennessee, 87, Lawton, will be at 2 p.m. Friday in Becker Funeral Home Memorial Chapel with the Rev. Eddie Coast officiating.

Mr. Hennessee died Monday, Sept. 7, 2009 in a Lawton hospital.

Burial with Lawton Police Department honors will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens.

Mr. Hennessee was born Aug. 17, 1922, near Faxon to Sam Norman "Mike" and Maydell Campbell Hennessee. He was a 1940 graduate of Faxon High School and attended Cameron State Agricultural College. He married Joyce Mae Phelps on July 10, 1944, in Lawton. She died on Oct. 1, 1989. He worked for civil service and sold real estate in Port Arthur, Texas, before being employed by the Lawton Police Department in 1947. He was promoted from patrolman to identification and records superintendant to assistant police chief. He was appointed chief of police in 1966, where he remained until his resignation in June 1976.

Following his retirement he owned Hennessee Real Estate.

His professional achievements include establishing the first basic police training program for the Lawton Police Department in 1964. In 1969, he was appointed to the Oklahoma Crime Commission and served two and one half years on the systems, training and equipment committees. He organized the Southwest Oklahoma Law Enforcement Association in 1969 and in 1971 initiated and assisted with the planning and implementation of the 911 Emergency Telephone System. In 1971 and 1972 he initiated the Neighborhood Watch Program, and in November 1974 initiated and implemented the Teen Policing Program.

He was associated with many professional organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Oklahoma Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, the Association of South Central Oklahoma Governments Criminal Justice Advisory Committee and the Southwest Narcotics Task Force. He was a charter member of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 98 and a member and past president of the Downtown Kiwanis Club. He had been involved with the Salvation Army, Boys Club, Red Cross, USO, United Way, Comanche County Center for Handicapped Children, Comanche County Children's Shelter and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. He was a member of Trinity Baptist Church.

Survivors include a son and daughter-in-law, Mike Hennessee and Phylliss, Leesville, La.; two brothers: Dee Hennessee, Lawton; and Jack Hennessee, San Clemente, Calif.; a sister, Helen Bernhart, Pulaski, Tenn.; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by two sons: Jeff Hennessee and Pat Hennessee.